We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Chapter 784: Bloody Battle in the Imperial Capital (5)

Li Che arrived with the Embroidered Uniform Guards and the north gate of the imperial city was immediately captured.

After breaking out of the imperial city, Li Che immediately ordered the gate to be sealed to slightly block the pursuers.

Then, they saw a group of people galloping towards them from a distance. Everyone immediately raised their weapons vigilantly and prepared for battle.

Li Che squinted his eyes and looked carefully. He saw that the leading veteran had white hair but was very majestic. He immediately raised his hand to stop him:

"It's the Duke of Wei! Quick, raise the flag!"

Ren Kuan immediately held high the Fengtian Army flag, and the scarlet flag fluttered in the wind.

Zhu Chun's eyes lit up in the distance and he rode his horse forward without hesitation.

Zhu Chun rushed to Li Che and was about to salute when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the familiar figure on Li Lin's back.

He leaned in for a closer look, and suddenly, as if struck by lightning, his voice trembled: "This... Impossible! Your Highness, what is His Majesty doing?"

Li Lin's eyes were red as he choked out a sob, "Father-in-law, the emperor... has passed away!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Chun staggered back a step and his face turned pale instantly.

As a founding father, his friendship with Emperor Qing is extraordinary, just like the friendship between Li Che, He Conglong and Wang Sanchun.

Among all the civil and military officials in the court, he was perhaps the only one who was loyal to Emperor Qing not out of legality or fear, but out of heartfelt friendship.

Emperor Qing also cared a lot about this friendship and never let Zhu Chun down until his death.

The relationship between the ruler and his subjects is not that of brothers, but it is better than that of brothers.

Seeing Zhu Chun's unbearable heartache and the possibility of collapse, Li Che immediately stepped forward and said in a deep voice:

"Uncle Zhu, we can't stay here for long. The most urgent task is to get out of the imperial city as soon as possible so that we can properly accommodate our father."

Zhu Chun suppressed his grief. After all, he was a veteran who had been through many battles, and he quickly calmed down:

"The rest of the troops are also heading this way, but I am the closest and will arrive the fastest."

He hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Your Highness, if we break out now, I'm afraid the other reinforcements will be caught empty-handed."

Li Che nodded: "It's okay, I still have a flare in my hand, which can be used to guide the direction."

“That’s great.”

Zhu Chun said no more, and the two groups of people joined together and rushed towards the outside of the city.

At this moment, the rebels in the city had already reacted and rushed in from all directions to encircle and suppress them.

Fortunately, the Jinyiwei and the secret guards were all very skilled, and with the addition of private soldiers from various mansions, everyone was full of momentum and fought their way through.

After rushing out of several streets, Li Che shouted to Huo Duanxiao: "Zhengze!"

The latter nodded in understanding, raised the musket in his hand and pointed it at the sky, and another flare streaked across the sky.

Guided by the signal flares, two more groups of people arrived, namely the Duke of Zheng's Mansion and Huo Tao's group.

Huo Duanli, carrying his father on his back, saw Li Che's team from afar and was immediately overjoyed: "Father, it's His Highness and my second brother!"

Huo Tao on his back nodded weakly, exhausted.

"Mother-in-law, please wait a moment. I will go and fetch Prime Minister Huo."

"Your Highness, please go ahead. I will be alright."

Li Che stopped talking with the wife of Duke Zheng and strode forward.

Seeing Li Che approaching, Huo Duanli excitedly straightened up and saluted: "Your Highness!"

This movement was not a big deal, but it made Huo Tao behind him groan.

Li Che's eyes twitched slightly, and he quickly called out to his men: "Quick! Prepare a stretcher for Prime Minister Huo!"

Several Jinyiwei quickly removed the fences and door panels from the tavern on the street to form a simple stretcher, and threw a few taels of silver ingots into the house.

Huo Duanli apologized to Huo Tao repeatedly, and Huo Duanxiao also hurried over to look after his father.

Li Che turned to look at Huo Duanren.

This was the first time he met the eldest son of the Huo family. He was indeed handsome and upright, like a majestic military general!

This was not the time to reminisce about the past, so Li Che simply nodded to Huo Duanren and then asked, "Huo Dalang, have you seen any other military heroes along the way?"

Huo Duanren's personality is not as lively as Huo Duanli's, and he is even a bit frugal with words:

"Your Highness, there are no more."

Zhu Chun stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, we cannot stay here for long. The rebels are gathering more and more. If we stop, we will be surrounded by the enemy."

After saying that, he frowned and looked around.

The further we get to the outer city, the more enemies there are. The main force of the rebels in the imperial city may be arriving soon.

Li Che and his men could only keep moving and could not go in one direction. This way, they would not be able to unify the rebels' orders and would not be able to encircle them.

Li Che nodded slightly: "Then keep moving forward, they will follow the signal and come."

Everyone regrouped and headed out of the city.

Less than three minutes after Li Che and his companions left, King Qin and his entourage arrived at the place where the flare was raised.

The King of Qin leaned on his knees, looked at the empty streets and the rebel corpses scattered on the ground, and cursed breathlessly:

"Didn't Lao Liu place the signal flare here? Where did the people go?"

The King of Chu grabbed a wounded rebel soldier who was still alive, put a knife to his neck, and shouted:

"Where did Prince Feng and the others go? Tell me now! If you don't, I'll chop you off!"

Although the rebel was injured, he said stubbornly: "I am loyal to the general. How could I tell you that the king went north!"

When everyone heard this, they looked at each other.

Without saying a word, the King of Qin killed the rebel with a sword and then looked towards the north.

The King of Chu asked anxiously, "Second brother, what should we do now?"

The King of Qin sighed helplessly, "What else can we do? Let's chase them! Without Lao Liu, we can't fight them off with our limited manpower!"

He glanced around at the exhausted guards behind him and shouted, "Everyone, cheer up! Follow the king's signal, and you might be able to save your life!"

Prince Jin silently wiped the blood from his sword and added calmly, "North should be the direction of the outer city. It seems that Prince Feng intends to directly break out of the capital."

The King of Qin spat out a mouthful of blood and raised his sword: "What are we waiting for? Chase him quickly! Don't let Lao Liu leave us too far behind!"

The King of Chu suddenly remembered something and looked around: "Wait, where is Lao Ba?"

Only then did everyone realize that the King of Qi had disappeared again.

Finally, they found the unconscious King of Qi under a collapsed stall.

The King of Qin was so angry that he kicked the King of Qi: "You useless bastard! You are responsible for carrying that guy!"

One of the King of Qi's personal soldiers lifted the King of Qi and placed him on his shoulders with the help of his companions. His movements were so skillful that it was heartbreaking.

The group reorganized and headed north quickly.

Traces of fierce fighting could be seen everywhere along the way, and scattered weapons and corpses indicated the route of Li Che and others.

The King of Chu muttered as he ran: "Old Six is ​​so powerful, he has killed so many people so far..."

The King of Qin snorted coldly, "Nonsense! His men are the elite of the elite. We are nothing like a bunch of defeated soldiers who were just released from the prison!"

Although he complained, the King of Qin did not slow down at all.

He also knew that following Li Che was their only way to survive.